Purpose of this blog

                   On this blog I will be discussing the mythology that has crept into the faith of  Jesus and the apostles. This process of mythicizing began early on, even in the early 2nd century. According to the Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary the definition of myth, under 2a is ” a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone”, and under 2b ” an unfounded or false notion”. These are the definitions of  myth that I am working from.

                    The Christian religion is replete with popular beliefs and traditions that have grown up around the faith which was once delivered to the saints. These unfounded and false notions, once imbibed into the thinking of the church, have suppressed the truth of Scripture and blinded the minds of believers ever since their inception. My goal in the weeks to come is to unmask these myths,exposing them to both the light of Scripture and of history.

Once someone begins to speak this way the objection is usually raised as to the impossibility that God would have allowed the church to go off track into myths and fables and that so soon in its history, after all did not Jesus say, ” the gates of hell shall not prevail against (the church) “. Besides the completely faulty interpretation of Matt.16:18, upon which this objection is based, let us consider for a moment the nation of Israel. Did not our God choose Israel, call her His own, put His spirit upon her, prepare a glorious destiny for her, care for her, entrust her with the very word of God, put His dwelling place among her, and make a covenant with her. How is it then that He allowed Israel to so thoroughly apostatize resulting in the destruction of her temple and land and in her dispersion among the nations. And even after He brought a remnant back to the land and the city and temple of God were rebuilt, by the time our Lord Jesus appeared on the scene, had they not again become so far from their God that they could not even     recognize their promised Messiah. Only the second time it was not a matter of idolatry but of cold, dead, heartless religion based on their own myths i.e. their own traditions which grew up around their law.( Matt.15:1-9 ) Also consider this — even in the days of the apostles we already see the introduction of false ideas based on man’s wisdom creeping into the simple faith of the apostles and the early believers. Does not the apostle Paul warn the believers in Colosse, ” See to it that no one enslaves you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, … not according to Messiah.”( Col. 2:8 ) Paul also warned the Ephesian elders that after his departure ” even from {their} own number men {would} arise and distort the truth…” (Acts 20:30). I could go on citing the many NT warnings of the then present and the coming apostacy from the faith once entrusted to the saints. Even Jesus himself lamented, ” when the Son of Man  comes will he find the faith on the earth?”

By now many of you will be asking, ” What are these supposed myths that you are talking about?” Here are some of the dogmas of the orthodox Christian religion that we will examine in the weeks to come to determine if they are the truth or are merely myths based on philosophy and human tradition:

• the Trinity
• the deity of Jesus
• the dual natures of Jesus
• the incarnation of God
• the immortality of the soul
• the eternal sonship of Christ
• the present reality of the kingdom of God in the church

These are some of the popular beliefs and traditions that are found in the major branches of  “Christianity” —– Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox and Protestantism. These are the main subjects we will be exploring on this blog, though we may look at some myths that are peculiar to Protestant Christianity for example:

• the immediate entrance into heaven upon a believers death
• heaven as the ultimate hope of the believer
• the predestination of individuals, in eternity past, to either salvation or damnation

I want to be clear, my purpose is not to denigrate the biblical faith of Christ and the Apostles, but to expose these myths which have obscured the biblical faith. Let me give you a little background info on myself. I was raised in the Roman Catholic church, went to Catholic grade-school; attended weekly mass pretty regularly through my teen-age years. When I was 19 I heard the Gospel for the first time and after resisting for a few months eventually came to faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. I attended a Baptist church for about 6 months before becoming ensnared in the Positive Confession/ Word of faith movement for about 7 yrs. The Lord brought me out of that mess through my study of Scripture and my wife and I attended a semi-charismatic nondenominational church for the next 12-13 yrs. We moved to another state where we visited a number of churches of the same type but never found one we were comfortable in, for various reasons. Not being in church for some time led me to a deeper study of Scripture than I had ever experienced  before. I came to gain a new understanding and perspective on how to interpret the New Testament(NT) i.e. through a Hebraic lens. Long story short, these popular beliefs and traditions which I had wholeheartedly believed, defended, and taught to others began to fall one at a time. It is important for you to understand that I have not abandoned the biblical faith but only the “Christian” religion, and these two are not synonymous. My faith in God the Creator is stronger than ever in my 36yrs. as a believer. I acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah promised by God in the Scripture, that He is the Son of God, the one mediator between God and man, in whom alone is salvation. I believe that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead and highly exalted him and that he shall come again to rule this world for God his Father.

If you are a Christian I ask that you would not simply dismiss what I have to say  but that you would stay with me  as we examine both history and Scripture to see if the things we have believed  are truth or myth.